President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, on Saturday, said that West Africa is currently facing security and democracy crises that have threatened to derail the sub-region’s integration agenda.
He made this known at the African Public Square (APS) Second Continental Edition Conference on Friday in Abuja, with the theme: Future Proofing Regional Integration in Africa: ECOWAS @50.
APS is a platform that was created to instigate debates on African peace, security and development among African public intellectuals of diverse backgrounds.
Touray, represented by Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, said the Commission had commenced a series of introspective talks towards addressing ECOWAS’ entire integration framework.
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According to him, the process is citizens-led, and the outcome of all deliberations will end up in a draft pact that will determine the path that ECOWAS will take in the next 15 years.
“I would argue that we have a crisis of security, and then we have a crisis of democracy in West Africa today. We have to navigate between a lot that has been said about terrorism, violence, terrorism, and others.
“Democracy is also in crisis. It is in crisis today in West Africa, and it doesn’t seem like leaders have learned their lesson,” he said.
He traced the evolution of ECOWAS from its formation in 1975 amid linguistic and colonial divides to its resilience during post-Cold War conflicts and the current struggle to navigate internal democratic crises in a shifting global order.
Touray warned that the world was entering what he termed a “warm war” era, a phase of global realignments and strategic rivalry, and urged West Africa to make deliberate choices to protect its collective interests.
He decried the growing political exclusion in some member states, which he said undermined democracy and contributed to the Sahel states’ recent withdrawal from the regional bloc.
“Only renewed commitment to inclusivity, good governance and dialogue can bring the estranged members back into the ECOWAS family.
“Today’s popular method of team capture is by member states eliminating dangerous opponents, whether political parties or candidates, from the electoral process,” he said.
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